Cherish the Moments
by AnimeWolfGirl16
Summary: It often took a while for the two brothers to cherish the moments that they had together, no matter how embarrassing they were.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, etc. from Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. It all belongs to its respectful owners.**

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Chapter 1: It was just a dream, right?

"Naiee!" A sharp whisper, as well as the shaking of his shoulder woke him up, his eyes opening sharply.

The first thing he noticed was Naia's concerned face, barely lit in the moonlight shining through the glass pane in the roof of their room. It still seemed fairly dark out, as far as Naiee could tell.

 _I must have been asleep for only a few hours…_

He gave an involuntary shudder as he remembered his dream, and he pulled the covers closer to him. This was immediately noticed by the older brother, causing a light frown to form on his face as he sat down on the bed next to his brother.

"Naiee, what's wrong?" Naiee shook his head, staring across the room instead of at his brother. The older teen shouldn't really be up this time, he needed his rest more than Naiee did.

 _Now that he's started that job, it won't do good for him to be tired tomorrow…_

"Nothing…" He stated, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice but he couldn't seem to control his emotions. The shuddering wouldn't stop either and he lay back down against the bed on his side.

 _Maybe if I pretend to go back to sleep, he will too…_

"Naiee." His brother said his name, causing him to open his eyes and see a light smile on the brown-haired teen's face. "I know you're lying. I used to try that as well."

Naiee sat up at that, a light frown on his face.

"No you didn't…" He trailed off as his brother let out a quiet laugh, ruffling the younger's hair.

"How would you know? You weren't born when I did." Naiee had to admit that his brother did have a valid point, not that he would ever admit it. It seemed hard for him to imagine his brother any other way than he was now. They settled into a silence for a few moments before his brother spoke again.

"Did you have a nightmare again?" Despite the soft tone used, Naiee felt his face heat up in embarrassment and he turned away from his brother.

"Of course not! It was just a dream!" He exclaimed, lowering his voice a moment later when his brother held a hand up to his lips to signal for him to be quieter. His brother let out hum, glancing across the room.

"If it was just a dream, then why do you keep waking up?" Naiee fell silent at the question. He really hadn't meant to keep waking up, the dream just kept repeating each night…

 _It's just a dream, so why does it wake me up?_

The question went unanswered in his head and he didn't bother to voice it out loud either. Sometimes, things just happened and you didn't know _why_ they did.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Naia asked from the other side of the bed, causing Naiee to glance over at his older brother. He began to shake his head 'no' but then stopped, suddenly thinking that even though the dream might sound silly to him, talking about it might get it to stop.

 _And if so then I can stop waking Naia up…_

"Ok… but you have to promise not to laugh…" Naiee trailed off when seeing the humor in the older teen's eyes. A muffled laugh came out of the brown-haired teen's mouth, causing Naiee to send him a light glare. Naia waved his hands back and forth, to show that he was just reacting to something else.

"I used to have some pretty bizarre dreams as well, so I think I know how to react."

Naiee bit his lip before glancing back at his brother once more, thinking back to the fragments of pictures that he remembered from his dream. It seemed like the longer he was awake, the more he forgot about it.

"Well… we were there, not that I really know where 'there' was…" He stopped, watching as Naia gestured for him to continue, as he gathered the rest of his thoughts and what he should tell his older brother. "There was a giant glowing tree, but I'm not sure _why_ we were there…"

 _And you were injured…_

He kept quiet about that part; it was almost always the place where he woke up. He didn't know the specifics of it all, like why Naia had been bleeding, but it scared him.

 _I can't lose him too…_

Naia clasped Naiee on the shoulder, prompting the younger to turn towards him, complete seriousness in his eyes before it suddenly melted away into a smile.

"It sounds like you've been reading too much fantasy and not enough reality." Naiee let out a huff of annoyance when his brother started laughing.

"I was not! I haven't read a book in a few months…" _Besides the one under my bed…_

"I mean a glowing tree? That doesn't necessarily exist in reality." Naia stated, his laughter subsiding and he smiled over at his younger brother once again. Naiee rolled his eyes, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.

"Yeah, yeah I get it, it's funny. Like I said, it's just a dream…" Naia clasped Naiee on the shoulder, a wide smile on his face. It didn't seem like he was going to get back to bed anytime soon…

"Did I ever tell you about the time that I had the dream about-?" Naia began to ask but Naiee pushed him a bit away from him, a small smile on his own face. If this continued, they would be up all night, like the other times they had stayed up talking to each other.

"Yes, now we should probably get back to sleep." He lay down on his side, trying to push Naia off the bed with his feet.

Most likely he could have just asked, but at least this way he was having a little bit of fun annoying his brother. Naia got up, a small pout on his face, but instead of moving back to his own bed, he came over towards the front of Naiee's bed. This confused the younger brother and he was about to ask what Naia was doing but stopped short when he felt his brother stroking his head. The soothing motion caused him to close his eyes, reminding him back when their mother had done this to get him to fall asleep when he was having trouble.

"If I know you well enough, which I think I can say that I do after all these years, you won't go back to sleep so easily." The soft tone of the older brother's voice caused Naiee to nod his head a little, not really feeling like putting up much of an argument. He could feel the covers being pulled up around him, warmth seeping into his body a moment later.

"Just…" He started but was too tired to finish the rest of the sentence. _Remember that you need to sleep too Naia…_

"Yeah I know, just sleep for now though. I'll see you in the morning." Naiee gave a small nod before feeling sleep begin to close in on his mind, taking him to a dreamless sleep.

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 **So I figured that I'd post this since I've had it done for a while now. My first step into the Brothers archive! Originally this fanfiction was going to be multiple chapters, and this one was actually Chapter 2, but I haven't had any success in writing the other chapters. For now, this is going to remain a one-shot but that might change depending on how much time I have. Please let me know what you all thought!**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Camping might be fun, right?

Both brothers had started out the day optimistic, but now they weren't so sure that camping in their backyard was the best thing to do that day. The idea had come about when Naia hadn't been called into work that day, which in and of itself was a strange occurrence, and the two of them had been contemplating what to do. Neither of the brothers had very many friends in the village, instead choosing to keep to themselves due to where they lived.

 _Plus there's all those bullies…_ There weren't many kids to begin with in the small village near their home, but some of them had taken to teasing the two 'outsiders' when they did come into the town. Hence why the two brothers were often alone when they did activities such as this.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Naiee asked once more, glancing up at the gray clouds overhead. It had looked like it was going to rain earlier in the day, but Naia had still insisted on going 'camping'. The youngest watched as his brother glanced up from his task momentarily to look up at the sky before giving him a wide smile.

"Totally! Plus if it rains, we'll have the tent!"

Naia's overly optimistic attitude caused Naiee to look at the mess of sticks and waterproof fabric in confusion. It didn't look like any tent that the young blonde had ever seen before now…

 _I think the sticks are supposed to be in the ground… and why's the tent all squashed together…?_

True enough, it didn't seem like the eldest knew how to build a proper tent. The sticks were just barely sticking in the ground, so little so that Naiee thought that if he went and kicked one that it would fall down. The fabric, which was meant to protect them from the rain, refused to stretch out to its full length, instead staying bundled up together as when the two brothers had rolled the scrap of fabric out.

"What tent?"

Much to the brown-haired teen's dismay, the child had brought up the point that had irritated the eldest to no end. It seemed like no matter how hard he drove the sticks into the ground to keep the tent stable, they just barely held the thing together. True that the fabric wasn't rolling out, but Naia was sure that if they just propped it up with more rods that it would expand at some point…

"Naiee, it'll get there." The younger brother merely sighed, moving over to sit on a rock at the base of the cliff in boredom, careful to stay away from the water's edge. The sandy portion that they were camping on was a short distance from their house, from which both of the brothers could still see, causing the youngest to glance back at it in longing the more he looked at Naia's 'tent'.

"If you say so…" Looking up from drilling another hole, Naia noticed his brother's expression.

"This is supposed to be fun!"

"Yeah well most people camp really far away from their house, right? And don't they normally pay attention to weather conditions?" The questions from the youngest caused the eldest to stand up, walking over towards the younger boy.

"Normally yes, but we've just started so we should stay near our house."

"In case something goes wrong?" A sigh emitted from the eldest at the question, causing him to glance back up at the darkening clouds.

"Yes, but nothing is going to go wrong." The brown-haired teen glanced around, seeing their pile of stray sticks, an idea forming in his head. "How about while I get the tent ready, you can try making fire?"

The blonde merely shrugged, getting off the rock with a little hop, before walking over and picking up two sticks.

"If you want to trust me with fire then…"

Naia nodded half-paying attention while he stared back at the tent-in-progress.

"Uh huh…"

 _Maybe if I insert a stick in the middle and push upwards on the fabric it'll come undone…_ His thought process was interrupted by feeling something wet plop down on him. Glancing upwards, the eldest noticed that rain was indeed beginning to pour down lightly on them.

"How's the fire coming?" He asked absentmindedly as he pushed upwards on the fabric, a smile making its way onto his face when it did indeed expand. Placing a longer stick in the middle, the older brother drilled down into the earth, with this stick going in father than the previous small ones had.

"Not sure why we're making a fire if it's going to rain but..." Naia stepped out of the tent, backing away with a smile as it stayed up. Sure the edges were still caving in a bit but he could work on that while they were stuck inside the object while it rained.

"I think the tent's finished…" Naia stated with a smile on his face until a yelp reached his ears coming from where Naiee currently was.

He glanced over sharply as his brother rushed towards him, sparks of fire following the youngest. The boy hid behind his older brother, with the last spark moving away from him at the last moment. The two watched silently as the spark landed on the half-constructed tent, before bursting up in flames.

"And there goes the tent…" Naia sighed, watching the structure burn down in a matter of seconds. Maybe using wood to hold up the structure wasn't his best idea.

 _Come to think of it, don't most people use metal?_

He glanced down at Naiee, who was silently watching the fire burn out with his mouth hanging open. He patted his brother's head, the younger boy clearly being shocked by what had happened.

"It's fine. We'll just have to make another one…" As the words left his mouth, the rain came down harder. This caused a sigh from both of the brothers.

"I vote we go home now…" Naiee stated, his gaze turning back up the hill towards where their house was.

"How was camping?" The question was asked as soon as the brothers entered their small home. Both were now soaked due to the onslaught of rain.

"Terrible…"

"Please don't ask…"

The two varying responses from the boys caused their father to chuckle. Bring over some blankets, he handed one to each of the boys.

"Well… for now why don't you dry off? You can always try again tomorrow."

Both of them agreed on that fact, and the one that neither of them would be attempting to camp for a very long time.

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 **A new little edition to this fanfiction has arrived! I figured that I'd do something on camping since Spring Break is coming up and camping seems like a popular 'vacation' for most people. What did you all think? I really appreciate the positive feedback from those of you who reviewed last chapter! It's nice to know that fanfictions are appreciated.**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


	3. Chapter 3

**YuiTarsis:** Glad to know. :) I really wish we could have gotten more moments between the brothers in the game.

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Chapter 3: What Would You Have Done?

"Hey Naia?" His older brother hummed as he glanced at Naiee, causing the younger brother's face to heat up a bit in embarrassment.

"What is it Naiee?" Naiee buried his face in his knees, which were pulled up to his chest, and shook his head.

"Never mind…" He trailed off, not having to courage to continue. Despite all the preparation he had done to build up his courage to finally ask his brother, it didn't help what he was feeling at the moment.

 _Despite everything, I still can't ask him…_

Naiee felt a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to look up. Naia's concerned face was just a few inches away from him now, his blue eyes staring into Naiee's own. The setting sun behind them as they sat on the small cliff that held their mother's grave seemed to shine duller this evening.

"Hey, what's wrong?" The question caused tears to appear in Naiee's eyes, making him shake his head once more and rest it back against his knees. He pulled them closer to him, feeling his defenses piling back up.

"Nothing…" There were a few moments of silence before he felt his brother's arm encircle him, causing him to tense up for a moment. He still wasn't used to his brother suddenly comforting him.

 _Sure he used to do it all the time before Mother… but now it feels like I don't deserve it…_

"When you act like this, I know you're lying…" Naiee shook his head again, listening as his brother let out a sigh before releasing him from the hug. "Please won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Naiee shook his head once more, his emotions feeling all jumbled up inside. If he spoke now…

A hand stroking his head suddenly caused him to look up, a small, sharp intake of breath following a moment later. All of his thoughts, his emotions seemed to freeze up inside him, them all going quiet at once.

"See, at least this time you looked at me." The strained smile on his brother's face gave way to concern as he moved closer to Naiee, pulling him in for another hug. Naiee stayed silent, trying not to tense up. "Is it something I did?"

That caused Naiee to look up at Naia in confusion, prompting a laugh from the older brother at his look.

"Ok, so not something I did…" His face turned pensive before it lit up. "Was it something Fa did?" Naiee shook his head, feeling the tears that had run down his face begin to dry. Naia hummed once more, glancing out towards the sunset as well as the sea. "Well if it wasn't something we did, what's bothering you?"

Naiee glanced out at the waves below, trying not to flinch.

"If you could…" He began before cutting off, once continuing with prompting from his brother. "…go back to that time, would you save her?"

A flash of pain crossed Naia's face before he looked back out at the sea. His brother hummed once more, his gaze softening.

"I don't really like to think about 'What ifs'…" He began, causing Naiee to shoot him a look.

"But why wouldn't you save her?" A few more tears escaped Naiee's eyes, prompting Naia to glance over at him, his hand wiping away the streams of water. His brother shot him a smile, one that was sad but at the same time happy, as if for something Naiee didn't quite understand.

"Because who knows what would have happened? We could have lost you as well and I couldn't bear the thought of that."

The words were like a blow to Naiee's stomach, causing him to feel all the emotions he had been hiding shatter, with a sob beginning to rise in his chest. He was pulled in for another hug as the tears streamed faster down his face and he began to shake.

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 **So to be honest this one is kind of sad, and was originally part of another story that I was working on for this archive but need to revise. You often wonder about how much guilt Naiee went through when he couldn't save his mother, and why Naia and his father weren't there either, but I guess that's a story for another time. Still, I hope despite the theme you were able to enjoy the chapter. :)**

 **-AnimeWolfGirl16**


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